Echo Mountain Inn — Hotel in Laurel Park

This review is based on my stay in the Little Echo Building, and I just can’t fathom where the positive reviews are coming from. The website photos for room 303 have been falsified to the point where it should be criminal to post them - the photos show a clean, bright, & cozy room, while in reality it was just plain nasty. The grounds are a shambles and the main building is rundown and in a state of disrepair. Again, website photos are retouched to where there is no comparison to reality. At check in, I noticed a plate of the saddest muffins I’ve ever seen, sitting uncovered, with a fly crawling on them. Doors to the motel section are still opened with a key, and we were told we could not secure our room properly unless we were inside. Pulling around to park, it was obvious there isn’t adequate parking available. The lot is mostly rock, most spaces aren’t marked, the lighting is poor, and the parking closest to Little Echo places headlights of cars about 6-7 feet from the windows of main floor rooms. Between the parking is a narrow sidewalk with rocking chairs inches away from the windows and at eye level. The cheap wooden entry doors to the rooms could easily be kicked in with minimal effort. There are no blinds or sheers on the window, so if you leave the curtain open, anyone on the sidewalk, anyone in a car pulling up, or anyone in a rocking chair outside would not be able to avoid looking directly into the room. Unlike in the photos, there were only two small lamps in the entire room, meaning you either had to exist in the dark or expose yourself to the public by opening the curtain. The door had no seal or weatherstripping on it, providing easy access to bugs, prying eyes, and inclement weather at any given time. There was only one night table for our king bed and no access to a bedside outlet. Everything in the room except for the bed, dresser and night table looked like it had been pulled from a dumpster. The couch was so grody, I wouldn’t sit on it. There was no full length mirror, closet, or wardrobe, and no ironing board/iron. There was a rack to hang some things, even tho the rack extended over the table and chairs. This room was advertised as having a kitchenette, which is not true. The water-saving shower head in the so-called bathroom (not shown in the photos for a reason) reduced the flow of water to a tiny drizzle with no hope of a hot shower or washing my hair. The main dining room was bright with a great view and appeared to be reasonably clean. There were real plates and cutlery, which was nice compared to chain hotels. The scrambled eggs and sausage were good and comparable to a chain hotel, being served in a warmer. However, it is only open from 8-9, with no other food services available, and no place near to go. We went both days at 8:30, and nothing was being replaced, so when it’s gone it’s gone. There was no fruit left. You had to scrape the bottom of the pan for a few potatoes. The only bakery goods available each day were the same sad muffins that I saw on the first night at check in, presumably either leftover or pulled from the freezer. Flat on top, and one flavor. My seven year old granddaughter can make a better looking muffin, and I wasn’t about to try one. There was water and watered down coffee that looked more like dirty dishwater than coffee. No juice. There was one flavor of yogurt and two or three kinds of cereal with an open pitcher of milk. On the other side of the room, we found ONE stale bagel and the heel from a loaf of bread. No butter, no cream cheese. Any breakfast at any midlevel hotel would, hands-down, would be an improvement on this. All I can say is that if you expect a true bed and breakfast experience, this is the wrong place to stay. Needless to say, I will never come back to this place and...

My wife and I used Echo Mountain Inn as a home base for our 25th wedding anniversary vacation and it was delightful. The main inn is the quintessential mountain inn. The architecture, grounds and decor were PERFECT. The many "common" areas both indoors and out provide a perfect place to sit and read or quietly work on a laptop. There were games, books and puzzles available. There were even a few toys for children.

We stayed in a room outside of the main lodge that had a living room, a short hall to the bedroom where the bath was off of and a small kitchenette. There was plenty of room for privacy and doors so that someone can sleep and someone else watch TV at the same time. The furnishings were perfectly appropriate and functional. A small dining table with two seats, big overstuffed chairs and sofa and a living room table served as functional/relaxing furniture. There was also a beautiful wine cabinet, lovely wall hangings and bedroom furniture for clothes etc... THE BED was FIT FOR ROYALTY. OMG, this king-size, hand-carved oak bed frame was BEAUTIFUL and the mattress was unbelievably comfortable. They must have used a crane to get this giant beautiful bed into the room.

The room was on the second floor of the building with private entries for each unit. There were chairs and a small table on the deck/walkway to sit and enjoy the view. The views out our windows were of treetops, birds, squirrels, and out the door was the beautiful inn backdropped by a distant mountain view.

At the inn, you feel kind of remote but everything you could want is just a few minutes away. Downtown Hendersonville has a hip and happening Main Street with many fun shops and eating/drinking establishments. Every morning was convenient as the inn serves breakfast. There were eggs, breakfast meat, a variety of breads, oatmeal, juices, pastries and home fries to pick from. The dining room is all windows, so it is bright, cheery and provides a magnificent view.

The absolute best part this accommodation is the people that work there. Their friendliness, hospitality, work ethic and genuine caring was amazing. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with Marcy the matriarch. Missing you all already. Thank you for...

Staff at Echo Inn were pleasant and willing to help. They were very appreciated. My wife and I stayed in the Quilt Haven room. We booked direct and got very reasonable priced for the stay. Even got special packages that got us significant gift cards for area merchants that were fantastic! Frankly, being from South Georgia, I was hesitant to drive over 6 hours for a vacation. We normally go the the beach and chill out. When my wife said she wanted to go to Hendersonville N.C. I said I wasn't going to do that. So we spent 5 nights and 6 days exploring the area. Room was comfortable. Beds were great. Television was mounted on the wall across the room and our older eyes couldn't see it well but we managed. They do not have room service unless you go to the desk and ask for help, but when I asked about it, the check in Lady was willing to go up and service the room. We declined but the offer was there. Bought my own tissue for the bathroom. The industrial paper provided was tougher than I was. We ate in the restaurant a couple of nights and the food was good. Warning: the appetizers were HUGE! Truffle fries were tasty but a big ole pile of them in a serving bowl. Same with the crunchy brussel sprouts. I felt terrible wasting them but the two of us could not eat all of it. When we came for breakfast in the morning, the food was fine. Even had some excellent grits one morning. It was clear though that each morning after the restaurant was open the night before, the floor was not swept and cleaned. I would recommend they sweep the floors on closing. My wife was right again and this vacation was very good. Downtown Hendersonville is excellent. The Elijah Gem Mine was a blast - we ended up spending two days digging in the dirt and got a new hobby - rocks! The folks working there were the greatest! Beautiful scenery and my wife spotted turkey, beaver and rabbit when driving up and down Echo...